Led by Kendrick, Phillies rebound from tough loss

One night after perhaps the most devastating loss of their sub-par season, the Phillies were clicking on all cylinders as timely hitting, lights-out starting pitching, and crisp fielding led the Phils to a 6-2 win over the Padres.

The Phillies have now won 22 of their last 29 games against the Padres, and have won 13 of their last 16 at Petco Park.

Brown crushes 20th homer, drives in four

Since his last home run on June 8, Brown had been hitting just .189 and had driven in only three runs over those 14 games. He matched those numbers with one swing of the bat on Tuesday, as he took Jason Marquis deep for a three-run shot in the fourth that helped the Phillies to a 3-2 lead.

Despite struggling for the better part of three weeks, Brown still sports a very respectable .275 average, and his 20 home runs and 54 runs batted in are both good for second in the N.L. behind only Carlos Gonzalez (21 homers, 58 RBI).

Kendrick continues to churn out quality starts

Kendrick picked up his seventh win in an outstanding, eight inning effort against San Diego.

The right-hander was on the top of his game, as he tossed eight very strong innings in which he allowed only two runs on seven hits. He had six strikeouts and did not issue a walk in the game. Kendrick has been a lock in all but just a few of his starts this year. Kendrick has now allowed two runs or fewer in 11 of his 16 starts this season, and of those eleven games the Phillies have won all but two of them.

Bullpen not pretty, but gets the job done

Antonio Bastardo had two runners in scoring position and the potential tying run on deck with one out, but he dropped a filthy 2-2 slider on Chris Denorfia and then struck out Logan Forsythe to end the game. He went ahead 0-2 on four of the five batters he faced, and spared Charlie Manuel from having to make a decision on whether to use Jonathan Papelbon if things got really dicey.

Up Next…

The rubber match of the three game set with the Padres concludes Wednesday at 7:10 PT (10:10 ET). Cole Hamels (2-11, 4.50 ERA) will look to establish some type of momentum for himself and the Phillies. He will be opposed by left-hander Robbie Erlin (1-0, 4.15 ERA), who is filling in for the injured Clayton Richard.

Look i know everyone is going to say this but i blame Rube. I get it the Phillies want to support him but come on. This guy had a plan of having aces that would go 7 innings and then hand the ball to Papelbon to close games out. But it didnt work. To many streaky hitters, some guys just swing free when they shouldnt.

Wish the Phils would dump Rube and go after Andrew Friedman from the Rays. Need to build this team with a solid offense and a legit bullpen. Gotta work on the minors too

Our team on paper looks pretty decent, but there have been injuries and guys haven’t played to their full potential yet, or maybe they are playing up to their full potential and they’re just older and on the decline… Rubens moves might not have been then best but not all of them were terrible… it would be interesting to see what another gm would do with this team and payroll… I always wonder what Billy beane could do with more money,I wouldn’t mind him as or gm

Billy seems to work best with small payroll. Friedman would be interesting bc he signed Longoria to that $100 mill deal and he knows how to acquire talent. WHERE”S PAT GILLICK? when you need him.

The 2/3 of this OF are pretty solid. Revere is finding his spot and D.Brown is having a great year. THe other thing is they both are still young. Its more of the “Core” that needs to get hit upside the head. Utley, Howard, Rollins, Hamels have not delivered. Ruiz isnt the same guy without the adderall.

Making some trades could help us rebuild on the fly. If you look at the past few world series that are still contenders. The Giants, Rangers, Tigers, Cardinals all have solid minors and legit bullpens. Free agency is changing. No longer are we going to see the big names sign with new teams and help them contend. Look at Anaheim and the Yankees. PUjols, CJ WIlson, JOsh Hamilton, A-Rod. All got big deals and have yet to produce. So many teams are signing big tv deals that lets them keep young stars. Kind of think its like the real estate bubble from a few years ago.

This team has had the same issues for the last two years, and Rube has either failed to address them adequately, or has failed spectacularly…take your pick. I don’t see how anyone (much less a supposed MLB GM) thought this OF was the OF of a team that was going to compete for a playoff spot.

I dunno although the Core isnt as dynamic as they once where they actually not doing too bad. (up to this point) Ryno has been hitting pretty good lately J-Roll is doing about what is expected. Since Utley and Ruiz just came back too soon to pass judgement. Most never expected Ruiz to carry a .300+ BA. Home runs are down though across the board for all of them. Schkeman can elaborate if he wishes…

This team isnt built to win. The aging core isnt good enough. Howard either needs to go on the jared subway diet he looks like he is out of breath just running onto the field. the free agent signings have not worked.

Ya know, giving the club the benefit of the doubt, I mean there’s some sort of chance they play well and it’s more entertaining to watch. Maybe a reenactment of Damn Yankees? But to your point, the Marlins are 13-9 in their last 22 (or very close, and IF that’s what you’re watching, that positive growth, I don’t think anyone would disagree.

But there’s danger in watching young guys that perpetuate mediocrity. Sort of a be careful what ya wish for, but by and large, I’m pretty much with ya.